Miami Heat's LeBron James (left) and San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard chase after a loose ball during second half action Thursday March 6, 2014 at the AT&T Center. The Spurs won 111-87.

Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News

Miami Heat's LeBron James (left) and San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi...

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Tim Duncan shoots as Michael Beasley defends. Duncan's 23 points and 11 rebounds helped the Spurs beat the Heat for the first time since Game 5 of the 2013 NBA Finals.

Photo: Edward A. Ornelas / San Antonio Express-News

Tim Duncan shoots as Michael Beasley defends. Duncan's 23 points...

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LeBron James prepares to shoot as Tim Duncan defends. James, who scored a personal and franchise-best 61 points Monday in a win over Charlotte, finished with only 19 as the Heat lost their second straight.

Photo: Photos By Edward A. Ornelas / San Antonio Express-News

LeBron James prepares to shoot as Tim Duncan defends. James, who...

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Kawhi Leonard (right), who had 11 points and five steals, shoots as Chris Andersen defends.

SAN ANTONIO — Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili at last walked off the AT&T Center floor with 1 minute, 44 seconds left, and 18,581 fans rising as one to greet them.

This was not the celebration San Antonio craved last June, when the Spurs came as close as a team possibly can to winning a title without actually doing it. But it was the catharsis the Spurs needed now.

When the Spurs thumped Miami 111-87 on Thursday night, it did not make up for all they had lost nine months before. But if all goes to plan, it might have pointed them in the general direction of another title shot this summer.

“It's getting to the end of the season here, and we need to start winning games like this, starting building our confidence,” said Spurs forward Tim Duncan, who grinded his way to 23 points and 11 rebounds in the wire-to-wire win.

“Just knowing we can win games like this when we get to the playoffs.”

Propelled by the quiet dominance of Duncan, a fiery start from Parker, who had 10 of his 17 points in the first quarter, and a frenetic all-around effort from Kawhi Leonard, who made LeBron James look almost human, the Spurs handed Miami its most lopsided loss of the season.

For Miami, it was the worst margin of defeat since Game 3 of last season's Finals, which the Spurs won 113-77.

“I'm sure this (win) has some special meaning,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “To say something different would be silly.”

As much as the Spurs hated going back to AmericanAirlines Arena twice this season, reliving their Finals nightmare once in the preseason and once in January, the Heat (43-16) didn't exactly arrive at the AT&T Center with fond memories of the place either.

The last time they were here, for a 114-104 Spurs win in Game 5, they left on the brink of elimination.

“Walking out of here, we knew we had work to do,” Miami's Shane Battier said. “We weren't dejected, but we knew we had serious ground to make up going back to Miami.”

Battier said something else the Spurs could relate to before Thursday's nationally televised rematch.

“The Finals seem so long ago,” he said, “but the the feelings are so fresh.”

The Spurs (45-16) were motivated to beat the Heat, not in some misdirected bloodlust for revenge, but because they had so rarely beaten anyone like them this season.

Before Thursday, the Spurs were 1-10 against the other top 5 teams in the NBA.

“It's time to get in gear and get ready for the playoffs,” forward Boris Diaw said. “So beating a team like this is getting on the right track.”

Prone to slow starts of late, the Spurs opened by treating the defending champions like so many Cleveland Cavaliers. They made a blistering 15 of 19 shots and had 11 assists in the first quarter, eventually building a lead that got as high as 17 before half.

Diaw added 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Spurs, making all of five of his field goals. Patty Mills had nine points and 10 rebounds, a career best for the diminutive guard.

With Leonard available to defend James for the first time this season, the Spurs unleashed a game plan cribbed from the Finals.

They begged James to shoot jumpers, so long as he stayed away from the rim.

Two games after going for a career-high 61 points against Charlotte, James had 19 on Thursday and was 6 of 18 from the field.

“They went under all my picks and rolls and dared me to shoot,” James said. “They just didn't go in.”

James complained a bit about the sleeved jerseys both teams wore, as did a few Spurs. He ditched the mask protecting his fractured nose in the first quarter, and was slowed by foul trouble in the third.

Another factor was Leonard. He did not play in the Spurs' January loss in Miami because of a broken hand. Thursday, he finished with five steals to accompany 11 points.

Afterward, it was difficult not to sense the relief in the home locker room.